Wilted roses
by MikaXichi
Summary: When I was younger I used to believe that romance was amazing and I had always wanted a boyfriend. Then, when I was 13, I found out that all men are pigs. No matter what they say or do its true for all of them. Well that was until a little while ago after I moved to Karakura town and met him. Anyways I'm Maria Karpathakis and here's my story.
1. The Move In

"Maria! Slow down I have your keys right here!" Tatsuki says to me giving me my keys.

"Sorry I'm just a bit nervous about moving in and stuff. What if random guys hit on me? I don't like boys at all! Well I don't like the majority of girls either but that's not the point here…" I say sheepishly while I unlock my door.

"Yea I know, but do you just hate people in general?" Tatsuki asks teasing me.

"Well you know I just don't like stupid people. And the majority of boys. And girls but that's no biggie right?" I say while bringing the last box inside.

"Suuure whatever you say Karp." Tat says holding the bedroom's door open.

"Shut up. Anyways where is the Keurig? I need coffee or I'm gonna pass out" I tell her while I go to the kitchen and start digging things out of boxes.

"You and your damn coffee again…" She mutters to herself.

"What was that SUKI?" I question her with a sneer knowing she hates that name.

"Oh nothing BUBBLES! Just talking to myself." She sneers back.

I throw a piece of crumpled up packing paper at her and she throws it right back, hitting me in the face. I smirk and walk into the bathroom grabbing a mouthwash cup and filling it with freezing cold water.

"Hey Tat, I got something for you." I say while hiding the cup behind my back.

"Oh god what now?" She says and slowly inches away from me.

"Oh nothing just a-" I pause for a moment running at her and dumping the water over head. "…freezing cup of water." I finish with a smirk.

"MARIA I WILL MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!" She screams at me ready to try and strangle me.

Just then, two guys about our age walk in on Tatsuki trying to strangle me and well it didn't look as we thought it looked and the orange haired boy got a nose bleed and the giant quickly turned around.

"ICHIGO YOU PERVERT! GET YOUR DAMN MIND OUT OF THE FREAKING GUTTER! YOU TOO CHAD! JEEZ!" She yells and smacks them upside the head.

I sit there giving Tat the 'what the fuck' look and she realizes she forgot to tell me who they were.

"Oh um Maria, this is Kurosaki Ichigo –" She points at the orange head "And this is Yasutora Sado" She says pointing to the giant.

Ichigo waves and says "Nice to meet ya" And sticks out his hand to shake mine. I shake it with a decent squeeze and he smiles at me.

Answering the unspoken question, I say, "My dad was a Marine in the US. He taught me to shake a person's hand with a little squeeze because it showed respect." He smiled and nodded in agreement.

Then Sado says in a very deep voice, "It's nice to meet you. You can call me Chad." I smile politely and shake his hand as well.

"My name's Karpathakis Maria. It's nice to meet you both. If you don't mind me asking but why are you in my apartment?" I question them.

Ichigo begins to say, "Well we're-" He gets cut off by Tatsuki.

"They're friends of mine. I know you weren't really expecting visitors but they are going to bring up some of the furniture. Wait where's Uryu?" She asks looking at ichigo.

` "What? Why are you looking at me? I'm not his babysitter?" Ichigo says trying to prove his innocence.

"You make it sound like I actually need a babysitter, Kurosaki." A dark haired man says walking in.

"Well look what the cat dragged in!" Ichigo says with a smirk.

"Kurosaki I will-" He gets cut off by Tatsuki's hand over his mouth.

Tatsuki says, "Look you idiots if you came here to beat the shit out of each other leave now. I asked you to come and help my friend with her furniture not to annoy the shit out of us." She says getting aggravated.

Ichigo scratches his neck muttering an apology.

The dark haired boy whom I'm assuming is Uryu bows slightly towards me and says, "Sorry about that. My name is Ishida Uryu. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I shake his hand and say, "It's fine. I actually wanted to say thank you to the three of you for coming to help me, even though I am a complete stranger."

Tatsuki says, "You don't need to thank them at all. I would've kicked their asses if they didn't."

Ichigo smiles and says, "Tatsuki you couldn't put a finger on me even if you wanted to. I've won so many fights between the two of us you don't have a chance."

"Oh I'll show you!" Tatsuki starts roll up her sleeves and charge at him, but I go in front of her and stop her.

"Tatsuki stop. He's just trying to agitate you. Anyways it's going to get dark soon and we still have a bunch of things to bring up." I say calming her down.

"Alright. Fine. Let's go guys. We need to get this stuff up here and set up before 10:00." She says starting to walk out the door. We all follow her down and begin to bring all the furniture up.


	2. Kisuke?

Hey guys I am back! I'm soooo sorry I haven't updated in a billion days, life decided to be a bitch. Anyways y'all know the deal I don't own Bleach or any of its content. To clear any confusion that may form in this chapter, Maria has no knowledge on soul reapers or their terminology. I am simply putting the terms we know in parentheses to make sense out of what she says. On we go!

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><p>(Flashback)<p>

_YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! YOU HAVEN'T ONLY RUINED MY BUT MY KIDS LIVES AS WELL! (You hear banging and the shattering of glass) _

**_Annie calm down._**

_I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! YOU CHEATED ON ME FOR THE LAST 9 FUCKING YEARS! YOU HAVE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY AND YOU'LL PAY FOR THE DAMAGE! (You hear a loud bang of something following along with more glass shattering)_

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><p>"Maria, wake up!" Tatsuki's voice calls to me. "DAMMIT MARIA CLARICE I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP!" She screams at me.<p>

"I'm up I'm up what's wrong?" I ask.

"You were screaming and crying in your sleep; was it the dream again?" She asks, her face softening.

I scratch the back of my head sheepishly, "I don't really remember what dream it was Tatsuki..."

"Are you serious? You screaming and crying bloody murder for God's sake." She says looking at me bewildered.

"Was I really? What time is it?" I say looking around my box filled room for a clock.

"It's 4:30 go back to sleep, you have a busy day ahead of you." She says while trying to tuck me in.

"You don't need to tuck me in like a child, you know." I say a little annoyed.

"Yea but I can. Anyways after all of that screaming I think I should, just so your body knows you're safe." She says looking over me making sure I'm okay.

"Tatsuki, I'm fine, really. Go back to slee-" I get cut off by an obnoxious strawberry and a drowsy giant intruding my room.

"MARIA, TATSUKI ARE YOU OKAY?" Ichigo screams and turns the lights on.

I take the nearest thing (which was a shoe, evidently) and threw it at Ichigo, well I tried to at least. But it missed. And it flew straight past Ichigo... and into Chad's face.

"Sado-san, I'm so sorry, that was supposed to hit Ichigo!" I say with a look of worry.

Ichigo becomes fuming, "OH SO IT'S OKAY TO THROW A SHOE AT ME AND HIT ME IN THE FACE?!"

"Well..." I say, scratching my head.

"God damn it. You must really hate me don't you?" He says looking down.

"Oh it's not that. It's the fact that you barged into my apartment screaming at 5 o'clock in the morning..." I say annoyed looking back at the clock. I glare at him and say, "I was planning on going back to sleep but it's too late for that now..."

"Oh well... I uh..." He mumbles.

"Ichigo you are just a plain idiot! So are you Chad! What in God's name gave you the idea to bust into her apartment?! You didn't know I was here! What if she had a guy over and was well ya know..." She trails off.

"GODDAMNIT TATSUKI! WHY HELL WOULD YOU SAY THAT?! DON'T PUT THAT IMAGE IN THEIR MINDS!" I screamed at her and threw another object (this being the other shoe to the pair). But again, it missed. And flew past Tatsuki-chan, flew past the vibrant and still fuming strawberry, and even past Sado-kun and hit someone else in the face… After this mysterious figure came to light it was Ishida-san with an obnoxious, red, shoe shaped mark on his face.

"Karpathakis-san I knew you did not exactly enjoy my presence but was it truly necessary to throw a sandal at my face?" He says kiddingly.

"Well at least that mark will go away… I think… I hope… Well anyways it's already six in the morning I'm going out for my jog and shooting off for the gym. Anybody wanna come with?" I question with an innocent smile.

Tatsuki slowly backs away, looking horrified and mumbles, "Never again you devil… I uh, I am going to the coffee shop, yea the coffee shop I'll see you guys later." Then she dashed out of the room as fast as she could.

"What was she so scared of? She can't handle a little work out?" Ichigo says laughing. Chad just nods and agrees.

"Ohhhh so she never told you that I was training for an international martial arts competition back in the U.S. did she?" I question. Chad's face turns to shock as he reached the epiphany of the fact that I was THE Maria Karpathakis, the reigning champion in Tae Kwon Do, Nin Jutsu, Jiu Jitsu and I Liq Chuan (ee leek chwan) in the United States and Canada. He sat there completely flabbergasted and then said,

"I… Wow, I didn't realize who you were but now that I get a good look, it's completely obvious who you are…" I flush in embarrassment and begin to say,

"Please just do-…" I get cut off by Ichigo yelling,

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT? (Then whispers) Are you some kind of secret agent?"

"No Ichigo," Uryuu cuts in, "She's a national champion of many fighting styles back in the U.S. and I believe that she would not like for her identity to be revealed here in Japan." He finishes with somewhat of a smug look on his face.

"Thank you!" I say exasperated. "Now, are you going to come with me or am I standing here for no reason?" I question putting my hands on my hips.

"I know I'm going with you." Ichigo says proudly.

"Very well then, I will make sure that this idiot will not cause you any trouble. I will accompany you." He says properly. Chad just nods and they all start to walk out the door.

"You have five minutes to come back here with your gym clothes, sneakers, Advil, and water, lots of water. If you're not back by then, I'm leaving without you." I say and push them out the door and start counting, "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASSES IN GEAR, I'M NOT WAITING! I HAVE A TIMER STARTED! ONLY FOUR MINUTES AND FORTY-SEVEN SECONDS LEFT UNTIL I LEAVE WITHOUT YOU SLOW POKES!" I hear them start to pick up their slow trot to a moderate jog.

'Hmmmm. Now what should I wear? A pair of jogging shorts and a short exercise top should suffice. Oh and a sweatshirt. Now I need my ankle weights, sweat bands and my 2 gallon water bottle. Hmmm. I wonder what-' my thoughts got cut off by a soft knocking.

"Coming! Man, you guys are pretty fast," I say walking towards the door. I unlock it to see a familiar face. "Kisuke! Long time no see! What's with the costume in your- wait is there a doll body (gigai) in that?" I question, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Hmmmm a keen eye once again my dear. It will serve it purpose soon enough…" He says trailing off with a mysterious smirk.

"Kisuke, why does that look like Abarai-kun?" I question only to meet with a mischievous grin. "Don't go about starting trouble again just because I'm in Karakura to-…" I get cut off by an obnoxious roar. "Kisuke… How many of these things are there in Karakura town?" I say starting to draw my chakra into a sword.

"Funny you should ask my dear, I didn't just call you for a tournament… I may have needed some help on controlling the chakra and soul consuming monsters (hollows) here…" He says sheepishly.

"WHEN I COME BACK I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS! TELL ICHIGO AND THE OTHERS THAT I"LL BE RIGHT BACK!" I yell running out of my apartment with my chakra (reiatsu) sword. I run out to find Ichigo in the same costume as the Renji doll.

"Oi, Ichigo what's with the weird cosplay? Are you going after the monster? If you are, leave it to me, I got this go back inside Chad and Uryuu…" I trail off as I dodge a swinging arm. "ALRIGHT THAT'S IT, YOU PAIN IS THE ASS!" I speed step behind the monster and concentrate all of my chakra into the sword and slice it in half. As it disappeared I find myself being stared at by not only Ichigo, but Chad, nonetheless with a deformed arm and Uryuu, in an ever more peculiar costume than Ichigo with a chakra bow!

"Um, Karpathakis-san, where did you learn to conjure a sword made of reiatsu?" He says carefully almost as if I were a threat.

"Reiatsu? What the fuck is that? 1. This *waves chakra sword in the air* is a chakra sword. 2. Your costumes are fucking ridiculous and 3. Chad, what happened to your arm? Come here so I can tend to it." I say reaching to Chad to grab his arm but he pulls away.

"How do I put this? Here, 1. Regular humans aren't supposed to be able to Ichigo or this 'Chakra' as you call it. 2. Just as you use 'chakra as your weapon, Chad here has special chakra developed arms so theirs is nothing to fuss about and IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THESE OUTFITS!" He yells crossing his arms.

"Yea, Yea, whatever. Hey Ichigo!" I call to him.

"What?" He cocks his head to the side.

"Put a god damned cap on your chakra! You're going to attract more of those stupid ass monsters; not that I can't deal with them, they just smell like shit and are obnoxiously loud."

"Well… The thing is… I-..."

He gets cut off by Uryuu saying, "He's so incapable that he doesn't even know how to."

"Are you serious? No wonder why Kisuke needed my help! You're bursting out chakra like a faucet with an endless supply of water!" I shake my head in disapproval.

"Hold on, YOU know Mr. Hat and Clogs?" Ichigo says completely flabbergasted.

"Um yea I do. What's it to you? You know what? I need to go burn off some steam at the gym hurry up, go grab your shit and let's go before I lose my patience. I'll explain everything once I cool down. If I don't I might blow a gasket and let my chakra loose, I don't think we want any more monsters around." I start running back to the apartment to grab my belongings. "Let's go slow pokes! We don't have all day!"

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><p>Thanks to DragonSlayer2187, clockworkqueen and hunter2424!<p>

Please help me out with some constructive criticism and tell me what you think! Thanks!


	3. Dumb, Dumber, Smart-Ass, and Chado

Hey Guys! I've returned after going through hell and back! Thanks to dog breath for reviewing! I really appreciate it! Anyways on to the disclaimer: I do not own dr. Stein from soul eater he belongs to Atsushi Okubo. I also do not own any characters or plot from Bleach that little shit called Tite Kubo does.

(He's actually not a little shit, I love him, but he killed off so many of my favorite characters in the manga. I am just plain mad with that dude.)

Anyways please do keep up the reviews I really appreciate it. I could use as much constructive criticism from you guys as possible; I want you guys to enjoy this story!

And heeeeeeeerrrrrrrrreeeeeeee we goooooooo!

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><p><em>You here a shit ton of panting...<em>

"HOLY SHIT I CAN'T BELIEVE WE JUST DID THAT!" Ichigo screamed pumping his fist in the air.

"Shut up asshole I won't be able to walk for the next week and a half." Uryu grumbles.

"Oh you two stop! I love doing this!" I exclaim happily. Everybody's heads turned to look at me. "What? What did I do?" I questioned with an innocent face.

"Meaning, you do this often?" Chad questions in shock.

"Very often actually. It's pretty much a daily routine for me." I say scratching the back of my neck.

"PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE CAPABLE OF WORKING OUT LIKE THAT!" Uryu screamed slowly backing away from me.

(Hehehehehe you all thought it was something dirty didn't you... Perverts...)

"Oh shush you wimp I'm not even tired!" Ichigo sat there boasting for about another minute until I said,

"Oh no don't worry, you'll feel it in about. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." Ichigo turned pale and started holding his stomach.

"What witchcraft have you done to me?" He rasps out, practically keeling over.

"It's called punishment for waking me up at FIVE O"CLOCK IN THE FUCKING MORNING!" I scream throwing a juice box at him. Don't ask, I know, 'why a juice box Mari-chan?' but it was the closest thing to me and I knew that it would hit him. (Pretty much meaning everyone else was safe for the moment, unless they pissed me off further than Ichigo did.)

"I'm sorry... I thought you were in trouble... But now I know that you can handle yourself and speaking of which, you owe us an explanation." He said smugly and crossed his arms.

"Do you really wanna do this now, Ichigo? In the middle of a huge fucking crowd?!" I question tapping my foot and my eyebrow twitching. He just drops his head in defeat and starts walking forward. "Mhmm keep walking strawberry." Then someone snorts and I snap my head around, "Who the fuck do you think you- Oh. Renji. Oops... Hi how are ya?" I ask sheepishly, scratching the back of my neck.

"Heh, long time no see and that's the greeting I get? Anyways, why are you hanging around with these jack-asses?" He asks with a boggled look.

"Remember how I told you about Tatsuki-chan? Well... She got these bozos to help me move and I just took them to work out. I needed to burn of steam before I ended up de-manning stupid-ass-strawberry for waking me up at 5 IN THE FUCKING MORNING!"I yell, sending a deadly glare to Ichigo. Renji snorts again and says,

"Oi, Ichigo, ya really shouldn't fuck around with little miss sunshine and her sleep. That's a no-no. Trust me, I've heard more than enough stories of her chucking shit at people, just for waking her up... Also, a kick to the head from her hurts like a bitch and-a-half. *Whispers to Ichigo* It's just as bad as Rukia when you insult her drawing skills..." He finishes shivering at the memory.

"Hey, I heard that you moron! And who's Rukia? Is that stick-in-the-ass Kuchiki's little sis?" I ask cocking my head to the side. Ichigo looks at me with a shocked look.

"Karpathakis-san, how could you call Byakuya that without getting senbonsakura-ed?" Ichigo asks looking at me like I had wings. I cock my head at him in question,

"Senbonsakura? What the hell is that? Do you mean the super girly petal sword?" Renji starts laughing until tears form at his eyes and I send him a glare. "What's so fuckin' funny, eh?" I ask taking a step towards him. He gives me a Dr. Stein- worthy smile and says,

"What's so funny?" He smirks, "The fact that you make it seem like you are all high and mighty but, in all honesty, you wouldn't even harm a fucking fly." I take another step towards him,

"Renji, if you're so eager to fight me, stop acting like a moron and come at me like a man. Don't worry, it'll only hurt a lot. Also, no fucking pansy-swords; we fight fair and square." Renji smiles and says,

"But no kido incantations! You know I can't use kido for shit!" I dead-pan,

"You really still can't use simple-ass chakra spells? C'mon Renji, you can't be as bad as shit-for-brains-strawberry..."

"Hey! Don't bully me because I can't do kido! I go chop-chop and stab-stab to get stuff done. I don't need stupid kido spells!" Ichigo pouts. Uryu face palms and Sado just looks down.

"Oh dear lord I'm going to be stuck with the biggest idiot to walk upon earth for the rest of the day... Don't you have a girlfriend or boyfriend to go bother? Jeezus..." I say looking at him in dissatisfaction. Renji and Uryu start cracking up,

"Ichigo? With a partner? Even we can't stand him that much and we're with him all the time, sadly. I have to watch over him like the child he is." Uryu finishes smugly. Ichigo, with steam shooting from his ears stomps up to Uryu and went to grab his shirt,

"Listen Mr. I am amazing, I'll whoop your-..." He gets cut off with my hand pulling his ear and dragging him away from the crowd,

"Alright so it's settled! While I get to beat up Mr. Pineapple, strawberry shortcake and 'I have a god-complex' can go use each other as punching bags." I finish with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Oh Chado, could you just make sure they don't kill each other? I still need to bully Ichigo for waking me up at the most ungodly hour of the day. Thank you!" I turn and look at Renji, "Oi, get ready to get your ass handed to you, I'm not going easy after you called me 'little miss sunshine', got it?"He sends back a smirk,

"Absolutely, I can't wait to see you cowering in defeat!" I laugh and shake my head,

"In your dreams, pineapple. Anyways, last one to Urahara's has to wear a chappy the bunny suit! Ready... Set... GOOOOOOOOO!"

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><p>I send a smile back to everyone to claim victory and dash into Kisuke-chan's shop, running right into Tessai, "OOOOWWWWW GOD DAMN THAT HURT! YOU CAN"T BE HUMAN, TESSAI!" I hold my head trying not to see stars.<p>

"Well, well, look who it is!" I hear a voice belonging to...

"YORUICHIIIII! I MISSED YOU! HOW ARE YOU? WHY AM I STILL YELLING?!" I run up and scoop her cat form into a hug.

"I missed you too. How was training back with the shaman?" She asks crawling out of my death grip. I smile and form a ball of chakra into my hand. "Not bad! You improved so much!" She commends. I blush and scratch my neck,

"I didn't really do that well, Yoruichi-neesan..." A shy voice speaks up,

"Miss Karpathakis? Is that you?" Ururu peaks a head out. My mouth drops in shock,

"Ururu? Holy shiitake mushrooms!(Maria filters herself around Ururu) Stop freaking growing! You're gonna be taller than me soon! That's it! KISUKE MAKE HER STOP GROWING SHE WON'T BE MY LITTLE URURU ANYMORE!" I yell pointing a finger at her and then smothering her in a hug. Uryu walks in and sends me a pointed look and exclaims,

"So she does have a heart!" Jinta comes in snickering,

"Yea she's one of the most caring people in the world and she has a mother comp-! MMMPPHHH!" He gets cut off with my hand over his mouth.

"Don't finish that sentence or else." I sneer, sending him my glare of doom and he complies quickly. Renji comes in laughing,

"Maria come on! He was just getting to the good part!" I send him a look,

"Shut. Up. Renji."

"Or else what? Are you gonna smother me in a bear hug?" He coos at me. I launch at him,

"RENJI, BE PREPARED TO DIE!" I get him in a head lock and give him a noogie to the point where tendrils of smoke are rising from his head. I hear a chuckling voice coming into the room.

"Mari-chan, are you two at it again?" Kisuke asks with a smile. I unceremoniously drop Renji to the floor and take a step at him,

"How many times have I told you not to call me that? Only Tia, Ellie, Yoruichi and Ururu are allowed to call me that." My eyebrow twitching in annoyance, "Anyways I came to ask if I could train here with Pineapple, Strawberry, I-have-a-god-complex, and Chado. Pleaaaaase?" I start to give him the puppy dog eyes. He laughs and shakes his head,

"So what you mean is that you'll beat up renji while Ichigo and Uryu fight it out and Chad here sits and makes sure no one dies?" I smile and nod,

"Kisuke-chan you know me so well!" I turn and look at the guys, "Alrighty then. Dumb, Dumber, smart-ass, and Chado go down into the training room and get ready. I'm going to go get changed and I'll meet you all down there." I wave them away and Jinta throws my wraps at me with my shorts.

"So demanding..." Ichigo mutters when he walks away. "OW! What was that for?" I smile, looking at the red mark on his cheek. "What's with you and throwing shit at people?! Especially sandals! Jeez!" He huffs and walks away with the rest of the guys. Yoruichi laughs and shakes her head at me.

"What?" I ask cocking my head. She smiles and pats my head,

"You're just like her in so many ways... But I think I like you better... Don't tell her that... Kisuke will hear it from her and get jealous." My eyes widen in surprise,

"Hold on just a moment, you still speak to her?"

"Yes and I still speak to Leo as well." She says shaking her head at his memory with a fond smile. I open my mouth to speak but she cuts me off, "I know you have questions but right now just focus on Renji being a punching bag for you. It's been a while, hasn't it? Go throw your wraps on and go have fun, you deserve it. Are you going to cover the scars?" I smile and shake my head in declination. She transforms into her human form and pulls me into a hug. "I will be here for you through all of this. I know it's scary but you'll get through it just like you did then. I am so, so proud of you. Now go beat Renji and maybe get a few shots on Ichigo just to rile him up." She nudges me away and I go to get changed.

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><p>Well that's that! I hope you guys liked it! You get to see Mari-chan beat the shit out of Renji!<p>

Maria- *Shaking a fist at me* DID I NOT MAKE IT CLEAR THAT NO ONE CAN CALL ME THAT?! Anyways, Pineapple get ready to be a bloody pulp!

Renji- *Another Stein smirk* IN YOUR DREAMS DAISY PICKER! HAHAHAHA!

Mika- *Facepalms* I can't believe I let you guys act like monsters... But hey Mari-chan! You get Brownie Points for trying to filter yourself around her. Even though she is old enough to hear them...

Maria- NOOOOOOOO STOP! SHE CANNOT GROW UP! STOP THIS MADNESS!

Mika- Anyways, thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites! I appreciate so much y'all don't know the half of it! Until next time!

-MikaXichi


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